Smartphone that charges in seconds and lasts weeks? Yes please

Supercapacitor breakthrough could offer 20 times current battery life

Battery breakthroughs are always exciting but this one has to be the best we’ve seen. A supercapacitor has been created that can charge to full in mere seconds and lasts 20 times longer than current lithium-ion batteries.

This battery, placed in a smartphone, would theoretically be able to fill up fast yet last well over a week on that single charge. It is also flexible so could be ideal for wearables as it fits in a strap, for example. That fast charge could also make it ideal for cars, presuming its solid state doesn’t cause weight issues.

The discovery was made by the big brains over at the University of Central Florida. They say that even the prototype can be charged over 30,000 times and still act like new - something lithium-ion can’t manage so well.

Supercapacitors are, essentially, solid state batteries. That is how they’re able to charge so fast since they don’t suffer the chemical issues that lithium-ion is restricted by.

So, what’s the catch? This is still just a prototype that’s isn’t ready to be commercialised just yet. It’s more of a proof of concept. But that’s good enough for us as it sounds exciting and hopefully will start appearing in phones, wearables and perhaps even electric cars in the future.